Territory



mammal. 4 Sheets-8heet 1.

B. F. BROWN.

SAFETY OAR.

,819. Patented June 20, 1893.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. P. BROWN.

SAFETY GAR. No. 499,819. Patented June 20, 1893.

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B. F. BROWN.

SAFETY GAR.

No. 499,819. Patented June 20, 1893.

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B. F. BROWN.- SAFETY GAR.

No. 499,319. P91199999 June 20, 1893.

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BENJAMIN F. BROWN, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH TERRITORY.

SAFETY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,819, dated June 20, 1893. Application filed October 25, 1892. Serial No. 449,950- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and Territory of Utah, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Preventing Telescoping of Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to devices for preventing the telescoping of the different cars in a railway train when, for any reason, the forward cars are suddenly stopped, as by a collision, the engine running off the track, or even by the too sudden setting of the brakes at the forward portion of a long train. The momentum of a car in motion is so great that when the preceding car is suddenly stopped one will slide up over the platform and into the other like the two parts of a telescope. Even when the ends of the cars are closely bound together as with the Miller platform and bufler, the energy stored up in a train moving at a high rate of speed is so great that the cars will rush into one another when a coll'ision 0ccurs.- To prevent this it is only necessary to substitute a yielding and gradually increasing resistance for the practically unyielding resistance of the ordinarycar buffer. To accomplish this, I provide inclined ways or guides upon each end of the car, up which the end of the adjacent car will be forced by the shock of the collision. The resistance encountered while sliding up the Ways will be sufficient to absorb the momentum of the car or at least to so reduce it that an auxiliary. buffer at the upper end of the ways can resist the unexpended portion of the momentum.

The preferred form of apparatus for carrying out my invention is illustrated in the accompanying four sheets of drawings, in which Figure 1, is a side elevation of the ends of two cars. Fig.2, is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3, is an end elevation of a car. Figs. 4. and 5, are diagrams showing different arrangements of the apparatus.

. floor beams of the cars.

Throughout the drawings like figures refer to like parts.

1, 2, and 3, are three cars constituting aportion of a train.

4, 4, &c., are the trucks whose wheels run on the rails 5, 5.

6, 6, are inclined guides or ways built on to the left hand ends of the cars. 7, 7, are similar inclined ways on the right hand ends of the cars.

8, 8, &c., are platforms on either side of the inclined ways for facilitating entrance to or passage between the cars.

19, 19, are car doors and 9, 9, are the platform steps.

10,10, are hand railings along the outer edges of the platforms.

11, 11,arethe braces for the inclined guides or ways 6, and 7.

The platforms and ways are reinforced by the beams 24, 25, which are in line with the These beams have their end faces 12, and 13, beveled off so-that the face 13, is parallel to the inclined ways 6, and the face 12, to the inclined ways 7. The cars are connected by any suitable coupling 14, and are furnished with the ordinary buffer 15, 15.

16, 17, are sets of hinged tongue pieces at the lower ends of the inclined Ways.

18, 18, are hatches cut in the platforms to receive the hinged tongue pieces when they are turned back out of operative position, and 18, 18, are covers for said hatches.

20, 21, are guide lugs to prevent either car from. running off the inclined ways of its neighbor while running up them.

22, 22, are auxiliary buffers at the upper end of said inclined ways, held in place by tie rods 26, '26, and provided with springs 23, 23.

- The operation of my invention is as follows:

Two cars being coupled together, one set of hinged tongue pieces as 17, are turned down as shown in Fig. 1, and the other set 16, are turned back out of operative position. Then in case of a collision severe enough to break the couplings and buffers 14, and 15, the end of car 2 will slide up the inclined way 7, on

car 1. The resistance encountered will be the weight of the car end multiplied by the tangent of the angle of inclination of the ways, plus the friction of the rubbing surfaces. This would probably be sufficient to overcome the momentum of the car and bring it to a gradual stop. If not it will reduce the momentum, so that the auxiliary buffer 22, can overcome the momentum remaining by the time the top of the ways is reached. The guide lugs, 20, will keep the car, 2, on the ways 7.

It is evident that the car which has its hinged tongue pieces turned back will do the riding, while the car that has them down will be ridden. The tongue pieces are simply ex-' tensions of the inclined ways. If those on the corresponding ends of each car are turned down, that end of each carwill remain on the track while the other end is lifted as shown in Fig. 4.. If all the tongue pieces on every alternate car are turned down, and those on the intermediate cars are left up, the intermediate cars will be lifted up bodily as shown in Fig. 5. This latter arrangement shown in Fig. 5, is the preferred form in which my invention should be used. The intermediate cars will then be lifted up two feet anda half more or less from the track and the alternate cars will be held down on the track by the weight of those which are lifted. In this way the chances of derailment are less, inasmuch as when the cars are drawn or pushed apart again, the guide lugs, 20, will cause the intermediate cars to drop back on the rails. The mode of operation, in case of acollision, with this arrangement would be as follows: The front end of the first car will ride up on the inclined ways at theback of the tender to a height of' two andahalf feet more or less, thereby opposing the grad ual resistance of its lifted weight to the on-coming train. After the front end of the first car had struck the auxiliary buffer at the top of the inclined ways on the tender, the rear end of said car would be lifted up by the second car to a height of about two and a half feet before its rear end struck' the auxiliary buffer on the tops of the inclined ways of the second car. This would give an additional yielding effect and great resistance to the forward motion of the remaining cars and in this way the momentum of the train would be taken up by a series of yielding shocks and the train all kinds of freight cars as-well as to passenger cars, and should be put on the rear of the tender and on the front of the engine.

Various changes could be made in the details 'of my apparatus without affecting the principles of operation and such modified forms I consider within the scope of my invention.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination with a series of railroad cars of a reinforced platform upon either end of each car, and a set of inclined ways upon each platform substantiallyas described.

2. The combination with a series of railroad cars of a reinforced platform upon either end of each car, a set of inclined ways upon each platform, and a set of hinged tongue pieces at the lower end of each set of inclined ways, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a series of railroad cars of a reinforced platform upon either 4. The combination of aseries of rail-road cars of a reinforced platform upon either end of each car, a set of inclined ways upon each platform, and a set of hinged tongue pieces at the lower end of each set of inclined Ways, together with an auxiliary buffer at the upper end of each inclined Way, and a set of guide lugs at the lower end thereof, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a series of railroad cars of a reinforced platform upon either end of each car, a set of inclined ways upon each platform, and a set of hinged tongue pieces at the lower end of each set of inclined ways, together with a platform on either side of each inclined way, and a hatch way in said platform, through which the hinged tongue pieces may be dropped when not in operative position, substantially as described.

6. A railway car provided at either end with a set of inclined ways as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. BROWVN.

, Witnesses:

EDWARD A. TRAPP,. A. P. SMITH. 

